MOV vs MP4 vs AVI: what is the difference?

All guides

These are all containers for video. Here is the short version of which to use.

Type	What it is	Use it for
MP4	The most widely played type.	Almost everything. The safe choice.
MOV	Apple's type, made by iPhones and Macs.	Apple devices and video editing on a Mac.
AVI	An older type from the 1990s.	Older TVs, DVD players and old software.
MKV	A flexible type that can hold many audio tracks.	Movie collections and some media players.
WEBM	A type made for the web.	Websites and browsers.
WMV	Microsoft's older type.	Older Windows programs.

Which should I pick?

If you do not know, pick MP4. If something asks for a type by name, pick that one. If you only know what you want to do, tell PlayableVid the goal and it will choose for you.